


Getting to know your neighbor

by kalika_999



Series: Jack and Brock's misadventures [39]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Drunkenness, HYDRA Husbands, M/M, Neighbors, Prompt Fic, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-27
Updated: 2018-04-27
Packaged: 2019-04-28 04:30:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14441421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kalika_999/pseuds/kalika_999
Summary: Once closer Jack can hear a lazy chuckle and he’s a little glad it wasn’t some random dead body thrown in the backyard..not that it was a common occurrence or anything, well he hoped it wasn’t.





	Getting to know your neighbor

**Author's Note:**

> There was a prompt somewhere that said something along the lines of 'It's 3am and you're in my backyard drunk and petting my dog.' so I just gave no fucks and wrote it. I think it got too soft instead of funny, oops.

It takes one entire dog that weighs over 100 lbs. and jumping on his back while whining to wake Jack up from his deep sleep, face mostly buried into the pillow. He can see it’s almost 3am on the clock sitting at the night stand and when he turns his head, big brown eyes stare at him seconds before a tongue swipes across his face in greeting.

“Gross Winter, I told you not to do that.” 

Winter is not a German Shepherd that listened, well scratch that, he listened and listened well. It was just that he read him like a book despite not being his owner, Jack’s just spent way too much time around him. So of course this dog ignores him and begins happily licking his face and trying to eat his hair while also burying his face into the warm spot between his shoulder and the pillow, tail wagging non-stop and with one heavy sigh Jack finally gives in and sits himself up.

Excited at the change in positioning, Winter hops off the bed and heads for the door, turning around to Jack who stared at him blearily, giving him a small encouraging bark before going out into the hallway. It took a few seconds for his brain to come online and it was then that he realized the dog needed to be let out.

Honestly he shouldn’t have been surprised that it was why he was woken up. He did agree to watching him over the period of being here while house sitting the place and it was his fault for coming back from working and the gym only to go straight to bed without even checking if the dog needed to be let out. Really, Winter deserved a reward for not going inside the house or destroying the place out of frustration that he wasn’t while Jack was in a deep sleep.

The canine sticks his head back into the bedroom with a small bark and Jack waves him away, “I’m up, give me a second.”

Winter doesn’t even wait for the sliding door to open all the way when Jack finally does reach it in his shambling walk through the place, dog tail whipping him in the legs before leaping outside and into the large fenced backyard. 

Hitting the patio light before he heads into the kitchen, Jack rummages through the fridge for a bottle of water when he hears Winter bark loudly. It’s eerily quiet for a few long seconds before he barks again and then again it’s dead silent. It’s a weird pattern but Jack was pretty sure it only meant the dog had gotten into something or was trying to get at something, maybe a rabbit or a squirrel, considering he never usually barked all that much. In an attempt to brush it off, he goes back into the fridge but the needling feeling that something is wrong makes him return towards the sliding doors.

He stops right at them and squints just enough to make out Winter at the far end of the yard wagging his tail and moving around something that was definitely not a tiny animal. With the light struggling to reach that distance, he could barely make out the outline of a man lying out on the grass and not moving. Jack waits a few long seconds to see if he gets up before slowly stepping outside. His movements are careful and deliberate as he makes his way towards the prone body and Winter who’s constantly circling and sniffing at him.

Once closer Jack can hear a lazy chuckle and he’s a little glad it wasn’t some random dead body thrown in the backyard..not that it was a common occurrence or anything, well he hoped it wasn’t. He can see now that the guy is occasionally petting Winter behind his ears on and off again and apparently using a lot of effort to avoid getting licked in the face by the very obtrusive dog.

“Why are you in my yard?”

Winter raises his head, ears perking up before he runs back to Jack and hops against his rear legs to try to reach his face and give him a greeting, dropping down again to let out a bark and bound around him excitedly whenever he does to let him know he found something interesting he should come and see.

Meanwhile their mysterious visitor struggles to push himself up to sit, holding his weight up by one arm and clumsily waving with his free hand. He’s wearing a dumb cheesy smile across his face like he’s still hanging out at whatever bar he’s stumbled away from and not in some stranger’s backyard greeting a dog that could have torn him a new one. 

“Hey, how’re ya doin’?”

It takes a little bit of adjusting considering how scarce light he has this far from the sliding doors but eventually he realizes it’s not a complete stranger dumped here at the place he’s house sitting but one of the actual neighbor’s he’s seen on and off. Jack _may_ have checked him out a few times when he’s caught him jogging in the early AM, especially with a body like his. He’s even been able to get close enough to really admire his face too the one or two times they’ve run into each other at the community mailbox while he’s been staying out here.

He looks past the man and to the fence, it’s tall, built for a dog too smart for his own good that could easily scale shorter ones and he tries to figure out how this person managed to get his drunk ass over. Jack can only figure he was nimble enough to scale the tree outside of the property and accidentally fell into the yard, probably from failing motor skills. _Why_ , was a question he wasn’t going to venture to think about this early in the morning though.

Winter runs back and forth between them, excited to now have two friends to entertain him while Jack figures out what to do next. His temporary neighbor only stares up at him with that stupid smile and his legs spread out awkwardly, a sock on one foot, the other a few feet away near the rose bushes and no shoes to be seen. Winter occasionally comes over to boop his nose to the man’s cheek or lick his face and there’s a dissolve of giggles as the guy falls back against the grass destroying all efforts he had made to sit up in the first place. Jack tries hard not to find it as endearing as it is, finally straightening himself up to get to the point.

“Look, it’s after 3 in the morning, you know that right? You’re lounging in someone else’s yard, not your own, petting a dog that isn’t yours that probably could have bit your face off if he had chosen so to do. So..yeah, sorry to point that out to you in such simple terms but you should probably realize that now rather than later.”

It’s like a light goes on in the man’s head when he blinks a few times, brows knitting themselves together the moment he realizes he’s not in Kansas anymore. After a bit he manages to pull himself up onto his feet with maybe a few minor moments of hesitation and approaches Jack as his eyes repeatedly focus and unfocus on him. They’re almost chest to chest and Jack raises a hand to steady him just in case though he doesn’t touch him, not yet anyway.

“Is that yer dog? He’s amazin’. No, no. _Really_ fuckin’ amazin’, I wish I had a dog like that but I can’t, I’m so damn busy all the- ” He trailed off from his slurring rant just to look around in surprise, eyes widening a bit as he wobbled a little. He tried to pick up wherever he was at just seconds before he makes a weird groan and drops his head abruptly forward between them to throw up all over the grass, some of it splashing across the slippers Jack had tucked his feet into.

Jack supposes it was good he wasn’t barefoot. 

“Aw fuck, shit shit shit- ”

Jack’s not entirely sure what the mystery man means to do as he flaps a hand towards his vomit but also looks like he’s struggling to get back down on one knee to possibly clean it up. Whatever the case, Jack jerks him upright with a firm yank of his arm and keeps him from trying to get down a second time. “No, leave it alone. It’s outside, let’s just worry about it when the sun comes up.” 

Kicking off the slippers and signaling to Winter to get away from investigating the puke and to return inside, Jack wars back and forth about deciding to leave this guy to his own devices versus inviting him inside to sleep it off on the couch. Ultimately, because he’s not a super asshole and because the guy was still intoxicated and clearly his friend’s neighbor, plus he wasn’t comfortable sending him on his way in case he ended up passing out in someone else’s yard that may not be so friendly, Jack looked towards the house. “Come on inside, the couch is probably nicer than the grass.”

It takes a few seconds for him to absorb what was just said, eyeing the vomit and abandoned slippers before turning towards the house though hesitating to move forward. Jack patiently waits for him to decide what he wants to do and without warning, knit brows smooth out and the man’s heading towards Winter who’s waiting at the open sliding doors for them. Jack follows a few steps behind watching him as he sways a little at every step and then winces when his apparent neighbor trips over the door track when he goes to step inside. 

He’s righted himself up and back on his feet, albeit with the support of the wall and Winter, by the time Jack has locked up the sliding door and pulled the curtain closed, “Have a seat on the couch and I’ll get you some water. You need it.” 

There’s a soft thud he hears when he’s in the kitchen and thoughts roam through his head about if he’s making a big mistake letting the strange (albeit hot) neighbor into the house especially when it wasn’t his place to begin with, just one he was taking care of temporarily. Sure he could probably hold his own if need be but a guy that climbed a tree to fall into the backyard probably sent enough red flags that should have just made Jack send the guy on his way and head back to bed. Still, he looked really hard up on trying to walk just a few feet when even Jack didn’t know how far he actually lived and he hoped if he had ever got this bad when he drank, someone would be kind enough to look out for him too.

Coming back with a water bottle in hand, Winter had already made himself home on top of the stranger with his head resting on his chest and forcing him to sprawl out awkwardly but because he keeps feeling out his fur and petting the dog’s ears it doesn’t seem like he’s complaining. It’s kinda cute too, just seeing the hot neighbor laid out and grinning stupidly at Winter, Jack holds out the bottle after uncapping it, “Here, try to get this water down.”

Jack watches him struggle to sit up and ends up in an uncomfortable looking angle but doesn’t complain, happily drinking down the water and making a few small noises between swallows. He crushes the plastic in his hand and Winter steals it to crunch at, another fond smile appearing across his face and a small hiccup slipping out before he turns Jack’s way, “Hey, thanks for that.”

It startles Jack a little, the way coppery golden eyes are less hazy than before but staring at him with so much gratitude, it’s a little overwhelming now that he seems more lucid to where he is and only nods in return, glancing away and moving around the couch to head for the linen closet, “I’ll uh, grab you some clothes to change into and stuff for the couch.”

It takes him a few minutes to paw through his basket of clean laundry he hadn’t folded yet, eventually finding a pair of sweatpants and a worn t-shirt. The clothes were probably going to be a little too big but he was sure it wouldn’t be an issue if it was just for one night. He grabbed the second pillow he hadn’t been using off the bed and rummages in the closet for a sheet and a spare blanket before heading back into the living room just to freeze in the entryway and stare stupidly at the scene laid out before him.

There’s a mess of clothing scattered on the floor, everything but the man’s boxer briefs, and Jack can’t seem to take his eyes off the planes of defined, hard muscle across body. It also didn’t help that his guest was passed out face first on the couch with a leg hanging off because now Jack had the sight of how great his ass looked permanently burned into his brain. Winter was curled up as small as he could, for a full grown Shepherd, directly on the guy’s back and asleep. Jack didn’t even want to know how the dog managed to become best friends with a drunk or how there was no struggle about a large dog using said person as a bed. He just makes sure he can breathe alright because wouldn’t that be something that ended up happening.

He picks up the clothes and puts them on the armchair next to the couch with the pillow and sheet, draping the blanket over the pair before he lingers around again wondering if it really was a good idea to leave this guy alone but then he figured if anything did get stolen he could replace it or at least hunt the guy down since he did live somewhere around here and then kick his ass after collecting everything back. Hot or not.

Jack hits the lights on his way out and decides to chance it but leave the bedroom door open just in case, exhaustion taking over and it doesn’t take too long before he’s fallen fast asleep like everyone else in the house.

*****

Jack finds himself waking up to the sun shining across his face and the smell of coffee and bacon floating along in the air. He takes a few minutes to sit up and finally climb out of bed, stomach already making noises just before Winter’s tags jingle as he approaches from the hallway to greet him.

He pulls a t-shirt on over the sweats he had slept in and together they head to the kitchen, Jack taking a lingering look at the broad back welcoming him, sides of his t-shirt hugging snugly, while making eggs. 

Winter returns back to apparently where he was before and sits by the stove, the guy turning to glance at the dog with a low chuckle, “Yeah, I know ya got your eye on the bacon but ya gotta wait for the boss to wake up before any of it comes to ya. I’ll hide ya a few pieces jus in case he devours it all though, ain’t sure if he’s gonna eat the whole pack or not, big guy like him jus might.”

“I don’t normally devour packs of bacon on a regular basis.” 

The man turns his body to look behind him, spatula in hand as he gestures his way in mild surprise, “Not nice listenin’ in on other’s conversations, even if mine was with a dog.”

Jack smiles, giving him a shrug, “Sorry and that’s Winter, I’m Jack.” 

“Brock,” Brock turns to take the eggs off the element and placing the spatula in the pan before his hand goes out, “Hey and thanks again for savin’ my ass last night. Sorry ‘bout that whole damn mess, I wouldn’t have known where my damn house is, I can’t even remember where I went after the first bar. I musta been pretty loaded, I owe ya one.” 

“You weren’t that bad once you were in the backyard,” Jack offers, folding his arms over his chest as he leans against the counter with a smirk, “Though you puked on my friend’s slippers.”

The lack of surprise across Brock’s face tells Jack it’s not the first time and probably not the last, “Yeah, sorry ‘bout that, I cleaned ‘em up the best I could and then put ‘em in the wash fer good measure. I can buy ya a new pair it ain’t a problem.”

Jack can’t help liking Brock a lot already, he grabs himself a cup of coffee just so he could stop looking over his way, “I’m sure they’ll be fine. I’ve been there before.”

“Nah, I ain’t too sure how many people would offer their couch to a drunk dumb fuck layin’ out on their property. I really do owe ya, waking up here was a lot better than findin’ my ass in a ditch.”

Before Jack can say that it wasn’t a big deal, Brock fixes him a plate of toast, eggs and bacon. He even managed to have some fruit cut up and adds that as well before he insistently hand waves him towards the small kitchen table to go eat completed with a prompt raise of his brow which Jack gives in to because he gets the impression Brock will argue to the ends of the earth with him if he finds himself in the right. Considering he just woke up, he’s not in the mood to test that theory out just yet so he takes his plate and trudges towards a vacant chair, toast in his mouth before his ass even hits the chair.

Jack’s halfway through his eggs before he realizes he’s being a terrible host and offers Brock take a seat, getting a chuckle out of him as he slips into the chair across from him.

“Thanks.”

“I didn’t know how hungry I was.” Jack apologizes, taking another bite of his toast and chewing it slowly before he speaks again, “So, not to be nosy or anything but is being drunk off your ass and in some random person’s backyard a normal thing?”

Brock snorts down at his own plate, poking his eggs in thought while swallowing down what was already in his mouth, “Let’s jus say I’ve been drownin’ my sorrows for the past month when I can find an occasion to. Think it’s time maybe I try to find somethin’ else to distract me. I don’t live too far from ‘ere though, at the other end of the same street actually but considerin’ I was climbin’ trees and shit, no wonder I got lost and ended up in yer backyard.” 

Jack expects Brock to be in a hurry to get going once they’re finished eating but he ends up offering a hand in the kitchen clean up and they wind up hanging out together in front of the television for a good few hours while tossing a tennis ball out the sliding doors to the yard for Winter to run after. Brock mainly talks about work at some high-end security firm he runs with a friend of his and it segue’s into how he’s a terrible person to be in a relationship with because apparently he chose work over his significant other a lot more than they could tolerate and they finally left him. Unfortunately sometimes things remind him of how he regrets choices made that he can’t change now. Jack shares occasionally about his own job baking and how he’s house sitting and dog sitting at once for the next week still and despite it being a longer commute downtown he still enjoys having company, even if it’s just a dog. He doesn’t say a lot more since usually he’s not really a conversationalist but he does like opening up to Brock a bit more than he normally would and he enjoys listening to him carry on and fill in blanks between them without it ever becoming stilted or awkward. 

Eventually when Winter gets a little too unruly and bored of lazy catch, Jack decides he should take him out for a walk before he destroys the house and Brock apologizes again for last night and also for taking up Jack’s morning, not that he minds. He also makes another promise to get his friend’s slippers replaced even if Jack tries to fight him about it, but then again it is a way to trade phone numbers and that’s something he doesn’t mind doing either. 

Clipping the leash onto Winter’s collar, he’s going the opposite way Brock’s going so they stand outside to say goodbye and Jack tilts his head to avoid the sunlight attempting to get into his eyes, “Well, thanks for breakfast and the company. It’s kinda funny seeing you go this way.” 

Brock shakes his head, grinning at him with a fold of his arms over his chest after slipping on some sunglasses, “Yeah yeah, it’s fuckin’ hilarious. Yer lucky I like ya enough to let it slide, only so much teasin’ a man can take when he has a slip up.” 

Softening his expression, Jack lifted his phone giving it a minor shake, “Well, if you ever feel like drinking on your own again, take a second to think about giving me a call instead. We can always split up the amount you drink between us and maybe you’ll have a better time with some company at the bar.” 

Brock smirks and nods, gesturing with his own phone before tucking it into his pocket, “See ya ‘round, Jack.”

Nodding to him as he turns to head for the park, Jack’s not sure he’ll ever see Brock again but it was nice either way, “Have a good one.” 

He doesn’t look back because he’s not sure there’s any point and Winter’s incessant tugging has got him distracted enough to focus on what’s in front of him instead of what he just turned away from. 

It’s when he’s finally got the dog off his leash and they’ve gotten a few rounds of catch in that Jack’s phone alerts him to a text message.

 **Brock:** _How about we skip the bar and I make you dinner at my place instead?_

Jack stares at the text and asks if tomorrow is too early.

 **Brock:** _Tomorrow’s perfect. By the way, a good guest brings over a nice bottle of wine if he wants to stay for dessert though._

Smirking at his phone, Jack glances up to see where Winter’s run off to before looking down at the screen again, 

**Jack:** _What if your guest brings over dessert as well as a nice bottle of wine? It's a specialty of mine._

Winter drops his ball at Jack’s feet and waits for him to toss it, tearing off down the hill when he does and Jack’s phone chimes again,

 **Brock:** _Then he might have a chance at breakfast too, depending on how good said wine and dessert is. ;)_

 **Jack:** _It’s a date._


End file.
